Something Fishy.

                                              A chef preparing sushi at a local restaurant

We British are largely fish resistant and there are numerous theories out there as to why. Quite often our perception of fish as smelly, expensive and hard to cook is borne out of ignorance, attitudes towards fish are also often passed down through families rather than personal experience. Bizarrely, we are happy to eat fish fingers, tinned tuna or salmon, battered fish n chips, scampi and prawn cocktail.

Spending lots of time in Spain I am partial to a Mediterranean diet which consists of fish and seafood along with vegetables, fruit and olive oil, foods which help fight heart disease, cancer, diabetes and cognitive decline. Spain has hundreds of miles of coastline, so it makes sense that the Spanish eat more fish and seafood per person than any other European nation. Consequently, it is not unusual for me to eat a fish or seafood dish on a daily basis, something I wouldn't do at home as there is a lack of fishmongers and a lot of supermarket fish has been mucked about with crumbs, batter and ready-made sauces.

However, when I visit Portsmouth fish market I tend to buy in bulk, fresh fish is landed daily and is both sustainable and  locally sourced, fishmongers are happy to clean, descale and fillet the fish, these can be made into portions and frozen, for a mid-week meal, ready-frozen fish is an excellent option for quickness and ease.

I appreciate the fact that many of us now live on an over processed diet laden with fat, sugar and other addictive ingredients, therefore a piece of fish might seem too natural tasting, however, fresh fish, even when ready-frozen, shouldn't smell nor taste 'fishy', rather like a plain breast of chicken, fish has a very subtle flavour which needs to be enhanced with some good olive oil and seasoning.

There are so many delicious yet simple ways to cook fish and it is such a lean and healthy source of protein, it's a shame that far from eating the recommended two portions of fish a week, we British are still eschewing it in favour of junk food or red meat.  The department of Health recommends that we should be eating less than 90g of red meat a day, that's equivalent to 3 thin-cut slices of meat, where each slice is about half a piece of sliced bread. I know many people who have more meat than that in their lunchtime sandwich!

I've embraced all things fishy these past few years, I enjoy sushi and sashimi, which often brings about a negative response, invariably from people who have never even tried them. I find it quite funny to find grown men and women shuddering at the thought of a lovely fresh fish dish given the amount of rubbish most people happily put down their necks, conversely, it's always refreshing to see small children in Spain sucking on prawns or devouring plates of cockles, mussels and razor clams.

Here are some basic and I hope enticing ideas for simple, delicious fish recipes.

White fish with lemon

Simply place white fish fillets with lemon slices, a splash of white wine and seasoning in a foil pouch and bake in the oven for 15 minutes

The fish will have a light lemony flavour

Smoked fish with butter and milk

Again, very simply dab fish with butter, add a splash of milk and bake in a foil pouch for 15 minutes

This is a comforting dish, delicious with mashed potatoes

Pan fried sea bass

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan until hot, add scored fillet of sea bass, skin side down, cook until skin is golden and crisp, turn fillet over and cook for 1 minute, serve immediately

 A very typical fish dish served in a local Spanish restaurant as part of menu del dia

In Spain fish is often cooked on a plancha, a very hot griddle. With barbecue season upon us why not wrap fish fillets, sliced vegetables and other quick cooking ingredients inside foil pouches with bundles of fresh herbs and throw them directly on the barbecue;  the steam will release the herbs perfume and flavour, a delicious change from sausages and burgers!

'Foodstuffs absolved of the obligation to provide vitamins and minerals cavort with reckless abandon.'
- Michael Lewis

Next stop Spain with lots of lovely fish! See you there.
Love Donna xxxxxxxx

Meryl Streep's Wise Words On Friendship.

    My dear friend Karen who often contributes to this blog with her recipes. 

I often dwell on the subject of friendship and it's interesting to know that research suggests that people deliberately narrow their circle of friends as they get older.

When we achieve enough maturity and self awareness to know who we are and what we want, we have a degree of clarity about which friends deserve our attention and which are a drain.

Even the most omnivorous collectors of friends acknowledge that with maturity comes the need to go through a pruning process. Quite often we find ourselves playing parts in different films to those of our friends.

The work environment is a hard place to make discerning choices regarding friendships. Basically people are thrown together for thirty-plus hours a week, more time than we spend with our families or chosen friends, and often we start to mimic behaviours of those around us as we feel the need to belong socially. In these circumstances we often participate in behaviours such as passive aggression, hostility and covert bullying, it's often not until we remove ourselves from the situation that we see how we adjusted our personalities to follow the crowd.

Meryl Streep is one of my favourite actresses and humanitarians, her thoughts on friendship are beautiful and if we all heeded them, the world would be a nicer place.

'I no longer have patience for certain things, not because I have become arrogant, but simply because I have reached a point in my life where I do not want to spend time with what displeases or hurts me.

I have no patience for cynicism, excessive criticism or demands of any nature. I lost the will to please those who do not like me, to love those who do not love me and to smile at those who do not smile back.

I no longer spend a single minute on those who lie or want to manipulate.
I decided not to coexist anymore with pretence, hypocrisy, dishonesty and cheap praise.

I do not tolerate selective erudition nor academic arrogance. I do not adjust to either popular gossiping. I hate conflict and comparisons. I believe in a world of opposites and I avoid people with rigid and inflexible personalities.

In friendship I dislike a lack of loyalty and betrayal.

I do not get along with those who do not know how to give a compliment or a kind word of encouragement. Exaggerations bore me and I have difficulty accepting cruelty to animals.

And on top of everything, I have no patience for anyone who does not deserve my patience.'
- Meryl Streep.

I would add to that: I no longer want to coexist with jealous people, this insidious disease, whether out in the open or wrapped under layers of veiled spite, is the root cause of all evil.

Having pruned out some of the weeds in my life I can now concentrate on enjoying the beautiful, kind, funny and charismatic friends who deserve my friendship. Karen, one of my closest friends, passed on this delicious recipe this week, the beauty of it is that the sauce is rich and creamy but not calorific.


Chicken in tarragon and mustard sauce

Recipe
2 tbsp sunflower oil
650g free range chicken thigh fillets
150ml chicken stock
200ml creme fraiche
1 tbsp course grain mustard
1 tbsp dried tarragon

Heat oil in a non stick pan and cook the chicken until golden on all sides

Add the stock and cover, allow to simmer for 10 minutes
Add the creme fraiche, mustard and tarragon, stir and continue simmering uncovered, for another 10 minutes

Serve immediately, delicious with rice or mashed potatoes, I served it with vegetable risotto

'Your perspective on life comes from the cage you were held captive in.'
- Shannon L. Alder

Love Donna xxxxxx

Cocktails.

                                                         Bert preparing cocktails

With my son Bert back in Ibiza, a friend made a comment which is probably the mistaken view taken by many people who don't understand this culturally vibrant island. Ibiza, like many foreign destinations, has acquired a reputation based on the behaviour of binge drinking British holiday hooligans, yet beyond the nightclubs of San Antonio, ibiza is an island full of charm and history.

Ibiza town is one of the earliest towns in Europe, dating back to the year 654 B C. Nature loving pacifists fell in love with the island years ago and it has always held a strange magnetism for creative talents, boasting the greatest concentration of international talent on a tiny island.

Bert's friends who have chosen to take up residence on the island are a melange from different races and countries, mostly choosing Ibiza for its inspiration and fulfilment from the simple, spiritually enhancing, Ibicerico way of life. Bert generally stays in the old quarter of Ibiza town, named D'alt Vila, which is full of winding streets and white-washed houses, a treasure trove of history, mystery and magical first class restaurants, far away from the British drunken onslaught.

Upon his return home from his last visit, Bert had found new friends, Wouter Bosmans from Belgium and Lucie Jelinkova from Czech Republic. This couple met in Ibiza, crossing paths one evening while attending a party. Wouter was already a highly trained mixologist so it seemed only natural for the couple to buy a bar and enjoy the beauty of Ibiza, famously quoted by Nostradamus as 'Earth's final refuge.'

There is a lack of clarity on the true origins of cocktails but by the 1990s the cocktail industry was saturated with bars which focused more on style than substance. However, we are in the midst of a new cocktail renaissance, with cocktail training and molecular mixology courses becoming a serious art. Wouter and Lucie prepare authentic, high end cocktails, their drinks are the food equivalent of fine dining and Bert came home full of enthusiasm regarding some of the delicious cocktails he had tried.

                                            Wouter and Lucie inside their bar Bamboo

                                                      A view from inside Bamboo bar

My experience of cocktails thus far hasn't been a great one, the rise of fake-good-cocktails, which have had a burgeoning presence in many a lesser bar or restaurant for some years, has seen me drinking some very dubious concoctions, the current craze is WKD mixed with cheap vodka and a dash of food colouring, a very toxic combination. When Bert bought a selection of cocktail ingredients, including the Brazilian spirit Cachaca which is made from sugar cane juice and combined it with juicy limes and the aromatic bitter Angostura, I was amazed at how delicious an authentic, good quality cocktail can be, as a seasoned red wine drinker I am converted.

Caipirinha cocktail

Recipe

1 shot of Cachaca
1 large ripe lime
4 teaspoons refined brown sugar
Handful of ice, crushed
A dash of Angostura (there are other aromatic bitters but only one Angostura, the brand name under which Dr. J. G. B Siegert and his successors have sold their product since 1830. It can be used in soft drinks and also imparts an exquisite flavour to soups, salads, gravies, fish, meat and sauces for puddings, thus a versatile product to keep on your shelf.)

Cut the lime in half and place in a mortar, mash the lme with a pestle, extracting all the juice

Transfer lime and juice to a glass, add Cachaca and sugar and stir
Add crushed ice and top with a dash of Angostura

Strawberry daiquiri

Recipe
6/8 sweet, ripe strawberries
2 teaspoons refined sugar
A double shot of white rum
8 cubes of ice

Place the strawberries, sugar, ice and rum into a blender and pulse until the ice has liquidised

'I want my toes in the sand and a cocktail in hand.'
- author unknown

Love Donna xxxxxxx

Lovely Rice Pudding For Dinner Again.

Back in the 1950s and 1960s nearly all schoolchildren had a cooked school dinner for lunch, myself included. People have mixed memories, the general consensus being that most of us didn't like semolina, tapioca or sago pudding but loved sponge puddings with pink or chocolate custard. Fish wasn't popular, nor cabbage, but cheese and potato pie or fish fingers and chips were considered treats. Personally my bete noire were spam fritters, I tried them once, was violently sick and was given special dispensation, never having to eat them again! Children of that era didn't make huge fusses about food, we weren't used to the inordinate amount of choices given to todays children, we got what we were given, both at school and home, mums didn't prepare separate meals for individual tastes, the menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it. To my knowledge no child ever starved and there certainly wasn't the huge problems we now face, such as child eating disorders, child obesity and a diabetes epidemic.

Research has found that food standards are worse now than they were during rationing during the war. It's not rocket science, a trip to supermarket giant Asda today confirmed my worst fears. I observed young mothers, with small children in tow, filling their trolleys with super sized bottles of fizzy drinks, multi packs of crisps, bags of frozen chips, pizzas, chicken nuggets, cakes, biscuits, ice cream.......and having worked in education I can attest to the fact that many children's packed lunches were an amalgamation of junk food. Only 1 per cent of packed lunches in the UK meet the nutritional standards that apply to school food.

A primary school in South Yorkshire recently hit the headlines due to its headmistress banning packed lunches, this has caused some controversy, with several parents removing their children from the school. In the current climate of pussy footing around our children's fussy eating habits, which I believe we have perpetrated, parents fear that their children will 'go without' if served a school meal they don't like. Despite increasing scientific evidence that our diet of sugar laden, chemically enhanced, ultra processed food is having a significant effect on children's behavioural problems, some parents still eschew the option of giving their children a healthy balanced meal.

Given that in some parts of our planet children are still dying of starvation, it beggars belief that parents would remove their children from school because they can't have their luxury bar of chocolate or yoghurt for lunch. Compare many third world countries where children are lucky to receive a bowl of rice to the fact that 10 per cent of reception age children in the UK are clinically obese and you start to see things in perspective.

As a survivor of a basic childhood diet who has lived to tell the tale, I believe that parents directly or indirectly influence their children's food preferences and sadly think this is mostly governed by convenience, laziness and control. It's so much easier to give children ready meals and snacks to graze on.

When I was a child snacks had no place in my world, school dinners were a time to sit down collectively and model the behaviours of those around me, using basic table manners, sharing and interacting, anticipating 'afters' if we ate our dinner and understanding that there were starving children in Africa. When my friend Wendy Cooper was upset because she had fish fingers, which she hated, I swapped my meat and potato pie with her, we worked it out amongst ourselves, we didn't throw hissy fits or make demands, which, by the way, would never have been met.

Rice pudding is a homage to my childhood days, prepackaged cake and puddings that can now be picked up at the local convenience shop weren't an option for my mum, this was a lovingly prepared dish which we enjoyed all the more because it was a rare treat.

Rice pudding

100g pudding rice
50g sugar
Grated cinnamon (optional)
700ml milk, you can combine full fat milk with a tin of evaporated milk

Heat oven to 150c/gas 2
Butter a baking dish, tip in rice and sugar and stir through milk

Sprinkle some sugar and grated cinnamon on top and cook for 2 hours
Pudding should wobble and have a delicious crispy skin on top

'What is the matter with Mary Jane?
She's crying with all her might and main,
And she won't eat her dinner-rice pudding again-

What is the matter with Mary Jane?
I've promised her dolls and a daisy-chain-
And a book about animals-all in vain-
What is the matter with Mary Jane?

What is the matter with Mary Jane?
She's perfectly well and she hasn't a pain;
But, look at her, now she's beginning again!
What is the matter with Mary Jane?

What is the matter with Mary Jane?
I've promised her sweets and a ride in the train,
And I've begged her to stop for a bit and explain-
What is the matter with Mary Jane?

What is the matter with Mary Jane?
She's perfectly well and she hasn't a pain;
And it's lovely rice pudding for dinner again!
What is the matter with Mary Jane?
- A. A. Milne

Love Donna xxxxxx

Too Much Too Soon?

                                    Todd happily playing, throwing pebbles in the sea.

I spoke recently about how our natural world is being eradicated with horrible speed and how those we look to in power are accelerating this decline for financial gain.

We live in a toxic culture now, informed not by simplicity or contentment, but by ambition, materialism and greed. I read an interesting article recently in The Guardian which threw up some frightening statistics regarding the effect this is having on our children and their consumerist, screen-based lifestyle.

It stated that we are putting our children through a life which is a life-denying, love-denying mindset. By placing our babies in nursery schools, so that we can go out and earn big bucks to buy our big houses, fast cars and modern technology, we are failing to understand the messages we are sending our children. Ambition and material gain cannot compensate for what it displaces: family life, innocence, childhood and living in the moment.

Because we can, we bombard our children with toys and gadgets from infancy, for young children this can be a sensory overload, toys that sing, toys that dance, toys that leave little to the imagination,  when actually,  children want to explore and use creativity, hence why they still love simple things like throwing pebbles in the sea or playing with pots and pans or empty cardboard boxes - often having ignored the all singing, all dancing, very expensive toy within.

When Bert was a toddler I would take him to Hastings beach, we would always go directly to a charity shop in the old town where he was allowed to choose two matchbox cars from the 10p box. Cars secured, I would spread a blanket on the pebbles and Bert, after a dip in the sea, would play happily with his cars amongst the pebbles for ages.

In an age of parental stress we project our anxieties onto our children and academics say Britain has the 'lowest levels of children's wellbeing in the developed world'. Spending days on the beach with little more than a simple toy and a jam sandwich no longer measures up to the technological gadgets they have become addicted to. Consequently, children aren't interacting or being taught play skills, rather, because we can afford to, and because we're too tired not to, we're substituting our quality time with our children and handing them over to technological babysitters.

Between 1999 and 2014, mental health beds for children in England increased by 50% but still fail to meet demand, thus children are being dumped in adult wards or ending up in police cells. Children admitted to hospital due to self harm has risen by 68% in ten years. Isolated in their bedrooms, an estimated 5.43 million young people in the UK have experienced cyberbullying, with parents so distanced from their children, 40% do not know how to respond if their child is cyberbullied.

 The erosion of 'childhood' in Britain has continued apace since 2006 with British parents trapping children in a cycle of compulsive consumerism by showering them with toys and designer labels instead of spending quality time with them. Children need to go out and play, explore and take risks and as a society, we all have a stake in making sure there is time for family life and a natural environment where children are free to cherish their childhoods.

I always state the obvious regarding gardening and cooking with children, these are simple old fashioned pleasures that are being eroded by modern life. My friend Jenny recently came to my door with her small son Alfie who was proudly clutching a bunch of homegrown rhubarb. Alfie helps dad in the garden and mum in the kitchen and is a very sociable, active little boy who gets to enjoy life beyond a computer screen. I decided to make an old family favourite, rhubarb crumble, here's the recipe.

Rhubarb crumble

Recipe
500g rhubarb, chopped into chunks the length of your thumb
100g golden castor sugar
Juice and zest of 1 orange
For the crumble topping
140g self raising flour
85g butter, chilled

Preheat oven to 180c/gas 4
Place the chopped rhubarb in a medium sized saucepan with the orange juice and zest, sugar and 2 tablespoons of water

Bring to the boil, turn down heat and simmer for 5 minutes until rhubarb is soft
Transfer to oven dish

Cut the butter into chunks and rub it into the flour until you get a mixture like fine breadcrumbs
Sprinkle the crumble topping over the rhubarb and bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes

Enjoy with custard, cream or ice cream.

'When I grow up I want to be a little boy.'
- Joseph Heller

Love Donna xxxxxx

Quintessential England.

                            The beautiful village green and church in Alfriston East Sussex

When I moved from London to Fareham, a small market town in Hampshire, I truly felt that I'd arrived in the countryside. Fast forward twenty years and Fareham has become almost unrecognisable, the centre of the town now houses a large carbuncle, namely, Tesco, the former market square is a sprawling car park, independent shops have been gobbled up by corporate chains and the main street is strewn with discarded polystyrene cups and globs of sputum.

The surrounding countryside has gradually been absorbed into a featureless urban sprawl with an impending 6000 new houses being built ten minutes to the north of my house and a 1500 housing development planned five minutes to the south, not to mention the intense garden grab building, I can safely say I no longer feel that I live in the countryside.

The number of new homes being approved on greenbelt land in England has increased five-fold in the last five years according to figures obtained by the BBC. Green belts were created to prevent urban sprawls and were only to be built on in 'exceptional circumstances,' yet there is continuing evidence of proposed development within highly protected landscapes!

The UK is now one of the most unequal developed nations in the world according to new reports, warning us that such disparity stunts economic growth and damages the fabric of society. Estimates suggest that 250,000 homes need to be built each year to solve the housing crisis in the UK, but what good are these homes without infrastructure? Annual census figures show the primary school population has risen to such high levels that over-sized classes have become the norm. The impact on local travel, the long waiting lists at our local GPs, the annihilation of our wildlife, the destruction of village communities, the demise of the British pub industry, the lack of care services within the community, none of which affect those at the wealthier end of the spectrum, concerns me and should concern you.

Before anyone reading this jumps on the political bandwagon, let me make myself clear, I love my country and am under no illusion that any of our political parties have any vested interest other than feathering their own nests, there is nothing virtuous about politics anymore, it's all about career politicians and hypocritical champagne socialists. The uninitiated cop out is to blame the opposing government, it's a bat and ball game of armchair opinions/politics. None of this rabid disagreement is helping my beloved country, I have long since stopped believing the panacea of progressive politics, quite often people will stand by their political party because they don't want to make the situation better (especially if it's coming from an opposing party) they prefer to be angry and miserable, validated by the chip on their shoulder.

I visited the ancient Sussex village of Alfriston recently and was amazed by the amount of American tourists, after all, this village is completely off the radar, tucked away and off the beaten track. Yet this is the England we are still admired for, the quintessential England that is disappearing before our very eyes.

This isn't a political blog, neither is it just a recipe blog, I started out quite simply sharing recipes in the hope I could encourage people to cook. However, intense factory farming, processed food, corporate chains, the rising diabetes epidemic, food waste and food poverty, to name but a few serious issues connected with food, has taken this blog on a slightly different journey. I wish I could just rustle up a few fairy cakes and quiches and be fluffy, but that's not what I'm about.

Alfriston, beloved by so many Americans, is a haven for country lovers. There are several tea rooms serving delicious cream teas, that most quintessential of English customs.

                                       My friend Carron and I enjoying afternoon tea

                                                        The pretty walled courtyard

                                                            Delicious homemade cake

'Human settlements are like living organisms. They must grow, and they will change. But we can decide on the nature of that growth - on the quality and the character of it - and where it ought to go. We don't have to scatter the building blocks of our civic life all over the countryside, destroying our towns and ruining farmland.'
- James Howard Kunster.

'As a little girl living in the English countryside, I used to go running around in the woods, creating my own fairy tale.'
- Lily Collins.

Love Donna xxxxxxxxx

Cancer. What Are The Causes?

My nonna used to say the Italians know how to live. She would say in Italy the pace was easy, 'work a little, take a nap, eat a little something, work a little more, take a walk, socialise, eat a little more.' And of course she would say everything tasted better in Italy from Italian butter made with fresh cows milk, full of natural fragrant goodness, to pancetta, parmesan, olive oil and fresh basil.

My life in rural Spain is not that different to my nonna's vivid descriptions of Italy all those years ago. Like the Italians, Spaniards live life at a leisurely pace and their style of food is more fun and sociable, like the Italians they love olive oil, cured meats, fish and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.

                                            I always buy lots of lovely olive oil in Spain

                                                                       

                                                   A selection of Spanish cured hams

                                                           Nice big bags of garlic 1€

Food in Mediterranean countries is about freshness, fragrance and ultimately about flavour. Further to my post yesterday regarding calories, where we buy most of our foodstuffs prepacked, we look for the calorie content and expiry dates. Common sense and taking responsibility fail us. My mother never counted a calorie in her life, she cooked using good judgement, if we had eaten a rich meal of pasta with a heavy meat sauce one day, she would counter that with a light fish or vegetable dish the next day. 

The Spanish still shop at markets buying loose fruit and vegetables, slices of meat, fish, nuts and bread, they're not dictated to by corporate food chains as to how many calories per portion or when they have to eat their food by, they use their initiative, as my mother would have done.

                                  A typical market stall selling nuts and dried fruits

                                                 Spanish women selecting their meat

                                                                            Jacarilla market

Unfortunately we Brit's have a sheep like mentality. Everyday, be it a TV programme or a newspaper article, we are being told to eat our 5 a day, cut back on sugar, drink less alcohol, take less salt, cut down our red meat intake, exercise more.........yet the huge food corporations still ply us with mass produced factory food and we still buy and eat it.

One of the dishes both my nonna and mother used to lovingly make was roasted peppers. These would be used in various dishes but I loved them most laid in thin strips on slices of freshly baked hot bread with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkled with coarse sea salt. The vivid colours of the peppers would glisten like silk and the combination of melting peppers and hot buttery bread was divine. 

Roasted peppers

Recipe

A mixture of red, yellow and green peppers,  (I make these in batches and store in sterilised jars with olive oil) 

Coarse sea salt

Olive oil

Half the peppers and deseed, lay the peppers skin side up on a baking tray

Set your grill to its highest setting, place peppers under grill and char as dark as the sky

Allow peppers to cool slightly then peel the peppers (my mother could lift off the charred part in one piece)

    Lay the peppers in thin strips in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt

    

Enjoy with bread or use as a topping for pizzas or combine with pasta and lashings of parmesan cheese. So simple but utterly delicious! 

'Piatto ricco, mi ci ficco.' (Rich plate, I dive in.)

- Italian proverb

Love Donna xxxxxxxxxxxx

Hog Roast

                                         A Spanish waitress cooking over an open fire

Until the 20th century 80 percent of the Spanish population lived off the land. Cooking over open fires goes back to the time when people working in agriculture needed to cook in situ. With 80 percent of the population now living in cities and the old rural life being swept away by booming tourist and building trades, peasant food belongs to the older generation of farmers and landowners who ate what they grew and reared. Goats, chickens and pigs supplied cheese, eggs, jamon and chorizo and nothing was wasted, today, a menu del dia in rural Spain still consists of a course of cocido or lentejas, stews using cheaper cuts of meat and leftovers.

Food for Spaniards is connected to memories and emotions, they believe that gastronomy, as with music, can touch people and make them cry. That said, eating with friends and family is always a joyous occasion. The typical Spaniard probably eats more than anyone in the UK or USA, but they take their time eating, spread their meals throughout the day, and work or walk in between meals. Typically, Spaniards do not eat dinner until 9pm, this is when families and friends gather and on weekends and holidays during the summer months, it wouldn't be unusual for them to continue socialising in neighbourhood cafés and bars until the early hours of the morning.

Suckling pig is a symbol of celebration for Spaniards which is prepared throughout the year for any special occasion, particularly festivals. The tradition of the pig roast goes back centuries, the pig, cooked by skewering the entire animal on a large stick and cooking it over an oak wood fire, is typical farm-to-table eating.

My first experience of suckling pig wasn't great, we British have become desensitised, buying our meat in prepared portions, neatly packaged, from the supermarkets. The butchers of my youth, where animals were displayed in the Windows, heads and hoofs still intact, are long gone, we don't mind eating meat but we Brits choose to close the door on the uncomfortable aspects of eating meat, we don't want to see the 'dead animal' that our cut of meat is coming from, out of sight, out of mind! Consequently, when I first encountered a suckling pig I was shocked and rather upset.

The longer I have lived in Spain (not permanently as you know) the more I have grown to appreciate the honesty between the average Spaniard and the land. Most Spaniards accept that some animals are for food but that their lives have been spent in natural surroundings. It is their reverence for the animal which makes them waste nothing which is why it is not uncommon to see offal or pigs trotters on a menu.

At a recent party here in England, the host had supplied a hog roast, again, slightly shocking on first sight, but I was assured the pig was outdoor bred. Hog roast is becoming hugely popular here in the UK, my criticism was that the rolls were cheap, white and doughy and the apple sauce and stuffing weren't homemade. I feel that when eating an animal we should do it justice, if the accompaniments are delicious we eat less actual meat.

I can't stress strongly enough that quality is more important than quantity, if you can't afford free-range, outdoor-bred and organic meat seven days a week, have it three or four times a week as Mediterranean's do.

The above piece of outdoor bred pork was delicious, I simply popped it in a hot oven and cooked it for 2 hours. Although expensive and quite small, I served it with homemade stuffing and apple sauce, lashings of roast potatoes and lots of fresh seasonal vegetables. The little amount I had left was used the following day for a hotchpotch dinner, I cut the pork up and mixed it with fried onions, leftover vegetables, gravy and topped with creamy mashed potatoes....delicious

One of my favourite meat free meals is risotto, it's cheap, versatile and delicious, you can add vegetables of your choice, roasted porcini mushrooms are delicious for example, and flaked Parmesan cheese.

Risotto

Recipe
150g Arborio rice, you can use plain or rice with added herbs
460ml cold water
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 onions, peeled and sliced
A large handful of frozen peas
A large handful of sweetcorn
Salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese

Fry onions in olive oil until softened
Sauté the rice gently in the onions and oil

Add water and bring to the boil
Simmer with a lid on for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, add peas and sweetcorn
When all the water is absorbed, season and add flaked Parmesan cheese

Serve immediately

'We are not rich by what we possess, but by what we can do without.'
- Immanuel Kant

Love Donna xxxxxxxx